How Can Allies, and Foes, Trust the U.S.'s Resolve and Ability to Be a Global Player?

While the government was preparing to shut down around him, President Barack Obama sat down Monday with the leader of one of America's most important allies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and was planning for a four-country trip to Asia later in the week.

That incongruous picture raises uncomfortable but important questions: When will Washington's dysfunction, which has become a chronic condition, begin to erode allies'...